On 10 and 11 September 2016 in park ‘Pole Mokotowskie’ in Warsaw took place a great family picnic ‘Europe changes Warsaw’. This has been the seventh edition of this event. Its aim is to show how EU membership has changed, and changes still, our city. The World Hearing Center (WHC) of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing had prepared many attractions for the residents of Warsaw. The WHC is a perfect example of taking an advantage of European funding to develop an institution providing tangible benefits for the society every day.

Institute’s booth offered educational games and plays for children and youngsters promoting hearing hygiene and care. Particularly interesting for them was the ‘giant’s ear’ – large anatomical cross-section model of an ear. On this model specialists would show and explain how the ear is build and how it works, how to maintain its hygiene, why excessive noise or untreated airways infections can be dangerous. Booth visitors could also see and experience how our bones conduct sounds with one of educational units – a bone-phone. But the most popular attraction by far were hearing screening tests conducted in the Mobile Hearing Center.

The World Hearing Center, build with participation of EU funds, has today under its care more than 5 thousand hearing implant users. Yearly it provides more than 200,000 outpatient services to patients from the whole Poland and performs more than 18,500 surgical procedures in treatment of hearing, voice, speech and paranasal sinuses. Its modern infrastructure and equipment allow undertaking innovative clinical and engineering projects such as development of telemedicine. The WHC is also frequently visited and admired by experts in ORL, audiology and phoniatrics as well as politicians and state delegations from the whole world.

The initiator, organizer and director of the Center, Prof. Henryk Skarżyński, is very proud of the position held by the Center of the global map of medicine: Polish patients have in the Institute access to the newest technologies is the first, or one of the first in the world. The Institute is also a prestigious didactic and training center attracting doctors from all continents wanting to study surgical techniques and medical procedures which I had developed. Kajetany is the best place in the world to train surgical techniques.

Organizers of the picnic had invited visitors for the extraordinary trips around Warsaw in the European Promotional Streetcar. The World Hearing Center also took part in this initiative organizing an unusual ‘Journey to the Land of Hearing and Sound’ for the youngest residents of Warsaw, educating through riddles and mini-competitions with awards.

The picnic ‘Europe changes Warsaw’ had been organized by the European Information Point Europe Direct – Warszawa, maintained by the Bureau of European Finds and Economic Development of the Capital City of Warsaw and co-financed from the EU funds.